Loeb may appear to have had it easy in rallying, but he prefers to win 'by fighting' than comfortable strolls. Photograph: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

Sébastien Loeb is an old-school legend; a throwback to grand prix drivers of the 1970s. Not in terms of his style — obviously, since he's a rally driver — but in his demeanour. There has been no polishing up by the Citroen PR department, you'll get no admission of his having any childhood racing heroes, and extracting a line about how thrilled he is at winning a record fifth World Rally Championship crown is as painful as barrel-rolling down a cliff side.

Even keeping his attention is impossible; he answers his mobile phone five times in the space of our 25-minute chat. Talking to Loeb is seemingly futile, deeply frustrating, but undoubtedly worthwhile. It's about the driving — no explanation needed — and that's just as it should be. Having interviewed his compatriot René Arnoux, I'd say he's a dead-ringer for him.

Loeb's rally statistics are simply incredible: upon joining the World Rally Championship for his full season in 2003, he beat established team-mates Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz and only lost the title to Petter Solberg by a single point. Since then he has taken the crown every single season — including the year he broke his shoulder and missed several rallies. Even Michael Schumacher didn't make winning this easy.

However, all this begs the question of whether Loeb has any serious competition. He believes he has — in the shape of Finland's Mikko Hirvonen, No1 driver at rival team Ford. True, Hirvonen lies only 10 points behind Loeb, but he's taken only three overall victories this year to Loeb's 10. And back in third place in the standings is Dani Sordo, who has only been able to muster just over half the number of team-mate Loeb's points.

Earlier in the year, when Loeb was a spectator at the Monaco grand prix, he stressed that the excitement lay in the battles. His motivation was fighting to win. Since then he's done it again and has the chance of beating his own record for the most rally victories in a season. There doesn't seem to have been much combat involved. Now, with only this weekend's Wales Rally GB left to attack — the only event he's never won — he denies that winning the title had become a formality. But does he miss Marcus Gronholm? The big man from Finland, a double world champion, had been his main contender over the past couple of seasons but retired last year. Loeb answers the question politely, but literally: "Err ... I'm happy to have had big fights with him last year before he retired. Now I cannot say I miss him. It was really good to fight with him, but now it's Mikko, and I have to accept he decided to retire one day."

Despite recent tests in Le Mans and formula one cars, Loeb has confirmed he will continue in the WRC with Citroen next season, but winning might not be a stroll through the forest. His three favourite rallies — Monte Carlo, Germany and Corsica — are absent from the calendar, leaving only two Tarmac rallies out of the shortened list of 12 events. It could be Hirvonen's best chance to beat Loeb — and may be his last. The Frenchman is not just unhappy with the schedule, but also the governing body's attempts to simplify the cars and cut costs. He's made no secret of the fact he is looking for a new challenge in circuit racing when he is done with rallying, and his competitive times in last month's test with Red Bull Racing prove he can get to grips with thoroughbred racers. It also highlights the raw natural talent that has led to his success, not just a depleted WRC field.

And so to the Wales Rally GB, where he still has an important task: sealing the manufacturers' title for Citroen. "I enjoy it, it's a nice rally and I like to drive there," he says. "Sometimes conditions are very difficult, but that's part of the rally. It's not the most glamorous, but it's not a problem. It's a pleasure to go there." A pleasure to leave your Swiss home and travel to the depths of a possibly snowy south Wales? "It's not the first choice in the world for me to go on holiday ... especially in December." I cannot say for certain, but that may have been said with a smile.